STORE WARS: Banana Republic vs. Indochino

Starting March 19th and running through April 8th, Dappered.com is hosting a bracket based tournament with the purpose of eventually crowning the all around Affordable Men’s Style Retail Champ for 2013. For a full introduction see this post. The bracket on the right will be updated as the tournament progresses. Click on it for the full size. Make a case for your preferred competitor in the comments section, but don’t forget to vote at the bottom of each match up. On with today’s showdown:

Strengths: Last year’s champion and for good reason. You can’t please everyone, but Banana Republic comes awfully close. Almost everyone can walk into a Banana Republic and find something they’d like to wear. Other strengths: Their tailored fit cotton blazers. Their outerwear (both their updated trenches and wool topcoats in the fall). Their tailored fit suits, while fused, are probably the best fused suits for around $300 (with codes of course) on the market. The fabrics and blends that they use like the silk/cotton/cashmere blend for sweaters, and the linen/wool or cotton mix they can use for summer suiting. The Navy, 2-button, Italian wool suit. Their line of soft wash slim fit shirts. The luxe touch polos. The perfect, not too thick, not paper thin line of pima cotton dress socks. They’re incredibly accessible, they offer free shipping at $50 from their website, and returns are free if you drop the item off in store.

Weaknesses: They’ve recently started excluding blazers from almost all of their codes. Most of us have gotten used to playing the code game with the GAP Inc. brands, but the long list of exclusions for their codes has gotten frustrating. Perpetual sales have conditioned most if not all of us to ignore their retail prices. The expensive “Monogram” line of suits… does anyone buy those? Shoe quality can be hit or miss (many would say mostly miss).

Strengths: Some guys absolutely love Indochino. For $379 you can get one of their essential suits plus a $75 re-tailoring credit. Taking that credit into consideration, you can get a suit made from the measurements you’ve provided them, with whatever type of lapel, vent, pockets, etc… that you want, that’ll be dialed in by your tailor on their dime on arrival. You could easily spend $40 – $75 on nipping and tucking a department store suit, so the $379 for Indochino, in the end, feels more like you’ve spent $300 for the suit itself. Plus it has a hybrid fusing/canvas interior that while not a true half-canvas, does move and feel much better than, say, a Kenneth Cole New York, Alfani Red, or Hilfiger Trim fit. Fabrics are nice quality too. And once Indochino gets your suit perfect (more on that in a second) many have reported out of the box, like-a-glove fits on their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th suits.

Weaknesses: Some guys won’t go near them. They’re a risk. Sometimes customers goof on their measurements, sometimes Indochino will seemingly chop a jacket tail way short (but that’s not always the case). Sometimes there’s no telling what the hell happened, and there are message boards out there filled with bad experiences and Indochino suits that look like they came from the Island of Misfit Toys. But let’s be honest, at the same time, online fit critiques can often get absurd. Building a suit from scratch leaves a LOT of opportunity for error. Meanwhile, their shirts are crazy expensive (why not go with ratio?), and some of their special collections are awfully gimmicky. They’ll remake your suit for you, but if you just want to pull the plug and get out, you’re on the hook for returns.

Your votes determine who goes on to the next round. Cast your ballot below. Voting closes at midnight ET.

UPDATE: And despite some support from their fans in the comments, Indochino is easily bounced by the champ.

Thankfully I am slim/trim enough that a suit from Suit Supply will get me 90% of the way as far as fit with the other 10% needing extra slight tailoring. And for that…I would never shop at Indochino.

http://www.facebook.com/andrew.kocsis.1 Andrew Kocsis

Not really a fair fight in my mind, BR sells so many things that could appeal to a person whereas Indochino seems to be seen as primarily a MTM suit supplier. So, if we consider the entire sum of each store, as Joe suggests, there’s somethingfor everybody at BR and so it should seem like BR is a slam-dunk. However, I look at what are the primary strengths of the two stores, and it appears to me that they come out as affordable suit suppliers (despite selling other things as well) and as such, I submit Indochino beats BR hands down. Here’s why: 1) As suits go, MTM>off the rack- despite the potential risks. Since you get a tailor credit and IC works with you to get it right- not like my BR experience that once I had it tailored, BR wouldn’t take it back. 2) BR suits are not worth the full retail, thus you have to wait for a sales discount to make the quality worth the ~$300 price (Joe even caveats BR suits with this point as well). Plus, these discounts are becoming rare- taking away one if the major strengths of BR. Beyond the suiting IC struggles to compete due to the lack of depth and breadth within the merchandise catagories as BR. But, I argue that’s due to a host of reasons but specifically, IC doesn’t have the volume of sales like BR and therefor focuses on a core business which is MTM. As such, that alone beats BR despite the “horror stories”. We must also consider that unhappy customers are far more prone to post their issues/problems than happy customers. Moreover, we should also take the negative comments on every product at BR (or just in specific categories) and compare total number of unhappy people complaining about fit/size/quality etc. Would be no surprise to learn BR has more complaints, even if we controlled for BR’s size relative to IC. Other points to consider in the overall body of BR as well 1)The sweaters, while nice and affordable do not have the longevity that the prices command. 2)IMO, at least, 1/3 of BR merchandise ranges on the too trendy/fashionable and sizing isn’t true so ordering can be as much of a crap shoot as MTM. At least with MTM you have some level of control and expectation of fit.

BenR

Even though finding sufficiently fitted 36R jackets can be a pain sometimes, and my huge legs take the option of non-separates off the table, there are at least a handful of OTR suit brands that fit me really well with minor alterations. BR Tailored Fit is one of them.

I’m glad that MTM suits are an option and not a necessity for me. For a cheap fused suit, I would rather put my money down on something I know will fit and don’t have to waste my time with massive alterations overhauls, and can be easily returned if I don’t like it.

A lot of guys who have the option of wearing OTR suits will happily steer clear of Indochino – too much risk and time/money investment for a product that ultimately won’t be any better than OTR with minor alterations. The only real value Indochino offers, IMO, is for guys with such irregular dimensions that MTM is their only option.

http://twitter.com/andreasduess Andreas Duess

I had huge issues with IC. Granted, not for a suit, but shirts I purchased from them arrived in pieces, with the cuff hanging off. There was zero quality control. Another shirt fell to pieces, literally, after the second wash.
Granted, their customer service took care of these issues without complaint, but when the fabric on the replacement shirt ripped apart after a couple of weeks I decided that the decent fit wasn’t worth the terrible tailoring. Never purchased anything from IC again.

chuckdaly

I am not slim/trim and the suits from Suit Supply fit me well enough to avoid Indochino. To be fair, Indochino has their traveling tailor in boston soon, and I am tempted to buy a suit from them at that event.

ec

For those who do not have their own experience with Indochino, may I direct you to vestislegis.com for an excellent review of one mans experience.

BR is responsible (and Dappered/Joe too – LOL) for a good 50… ok, maybe pushing 75% of my current wardrobe (not counting socks and uw). Indochino?… Not a single item.

Seems like I’ve liked items that I’ve seen posted here from them, but I like to try stuff on at (and usually purchase pretty darn exclusively from) b&m storefronts. Indo is online-only, right? Or maybe in-store in NYC or something? Dunno. Regardless. Score 1 for BR!

David Porter

No competition here. No comparison. Indochino and SuitSupply should have gone head to head.

Jano

Tough to vote against Indochino since both BR and Indochino are my 2 favorite brands at the moment. Indochino is my go to place for suits. Even though it can take some work, they are otherwise pretty spot on. Its hard for me to find a suit that fits anywhere near as good, being roughly a size 36. Yet, BR is majority of my wardrobe and gets the most use. Sweaters, coats, pants, and other accessories are just too good.

Wow. Surprised at the current results. Guess Indochino didn’t tweet the event this year. Voted BR because, well, I’ve never bought anything from Indochino, nor did I ever feel the need to. BR stuff fits me pretty well. Guess if I couldn’t find anything that fit me OTR with a lil tailoring, I might think about Indochino. I usually just go 2nd hand for suits and get an amazing deal.

Jano

The recent codes for 40% and 50% haven’t had many exclutions. Seems the exclusions happen with newer product lines.

LolaB

The good news is he only felt half of the fall.

I’ll just show myself out now…

DanPatrickFlores

I’m definitely going to hell for liking this comment

cubist_zirconia

One could (in theory) start from nothing and walk out of BR with a fully functioning wardrobe. Sorry Indochino, no contest.

Kevin

BR hands down

drocpsu

yesterday (?) they had a 40% off sale for all people with a GAP/BR credit card. Didn’t seem to have any exclusions. I wish I had the chance to take advantage of it.

Themimbo

Haha

Jano

Yes, I was referring to yesterday’s with the card. Pretty sure it included everything full price. I also had the 50% F&F discount, which only excluded the mad men collection. So between those two discount codes this past week, worked out pretty well for me.

BenR

Looks like Indochino has pulled out the social media guns… starting to catch up after being behind by nearly an order of magnitude earlier today.

I really hope their non-Dappered-reading fanboys don’t steal this thing the way they did a couple years ago. I’d like to see results that reflect, as much as possible, the opinions of people who actually read Dappered regularly.

somaticmarker1

Indochino just works for me. The first suit I bought from them only needed $10 of alterations and every other suit/shirt/topcoat.chinos has fit me perfectly. I have tried other MTM companies and while the fit has typically been good, it never comes close to Indochino. I have never experienced any quality control issues. They have a nice selection of basics, and every 3 months or so release a new line (although they can be hit or miss). In general, their products look best on someone with a lean/athletic build.

I like a lot of what BR has to offer, but factoring $20 tailoring per dress shirt, $30 per blazer, and $50 per suit kills any sale they may have. Why pair $50 + $20 tailoring for a dress shirt, when I can order a MTM shirt with better quality fabric from luxire/cottonwork/modern tailor for $70?

32 Regular

BR vs. Indo has to be one of the STUPIDEST comparisons ever.

Really? Generic ‘off the rack’ clothing vs. custom? A 35yo (Gap) retail chain vs. a 6yo online startup? For the next round, why not compare McDonalds to that new food truck that just opened down the road? I mean, really?

+1 Indochino

Kyle_E85

no suit supply?

Sigtweed & Corduroy

Fair enough, good point.

http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.johnstone.96 Jonathan Johnstone

it would have been more informative to have Indochino go against another similar business first to see who is better of the two then go against BR or some equivalent in a later round.. apple vs apple and orange vs orange, then apple vs orange..

http://www.facebook.com/justin.lau.739 Justin Lau

Indochino experience was terrible. The suit jacket did not fit what so ever. I went to a pop up store and had a young lady measure me. She didn’t seem like she knew what she was doing and I had a bad feeling that she was off especially when a manager had to step in to tell her to give me a bigger jacket. They plug numbers into a iphone that does some calculations. Despite her being nice and working to get me the best fit and dbl checking the measurements. The suit jacket still ended up bad fitting in the neck and chest area. The pants and vest fit fine but the free shirt will be used as a rag because it’s all based on wrong measurements.

Banana Republic buying experience was good. I was able to get friends and family discount for me and my groomsmen, but they gave me a incredibly expensive tailor to go to and not sure if this is typical of tailors, but wasn’t finished on time. Albeit he seems legit skill wise and he noted my Indochino jacket was not made well. I saw the arms taken off. I’ll take his word for it. Next time I’m going to a custom suit store even if it means 1200 dollars. It’s not worth all this head ache of off the rack stuff international made in China brands.

I did all of this because of price points and budget. Never skimping on a suit again. if you’re getting married go do yourself a favor and spend money on a legit custom tailored store. There were so many in NYC I didn’t take advantage

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